


44 Days Since Case One

by AnExhaustedArmadillo



Series: Case One [8]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, M/M, Survival, Zombie Apocalypse, scavenging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 04:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20370427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnExhaustedArmadillo/pseuds/AnExhaustedArmadillo
Summary: George and Joe go scavenging. It doesn't exactly go as planned.





	44 Days Since Case One

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it!

“If there are any survivors out there searching for company, there’s a community just south of New York City. We have walls and food, as well as doctors. We have weapons too, so enemies beware. ” Luz read aloud. There was a sign alongside the road that he and Toye had stopped to look at. “D’you think we should check it out?” Luz asked and Toye shook his head.

“We’ve made it this far by ourselves,” He reasoned. “We don’t know if it’s legit.”

“But, what if it _is_ ?” Luz said, and Toye knew he was making his eyes bigger intentionally. “They say they’ve got doctors, Joe, and food.”

“We have food,” He continued. “Besides, we don’t know when this was written. Their community could’ve been overrun. It probably was.” Luz looked disappointed for a moment before agreeing.

“Yeah, alright,” He said, and the two of them continued on their way. They were on a scavenging trip, heading closer into town. They had a house, the two of them, larger than the apartment they’d been living in before the end of the world. It was well fortified, too. They had built thigh high walls around the house, complete with wooden spikes to impale the infected. They were well supplied, all things considered, but they had to scavenge for supplies, hence the trip they were on.

The nearby pharmacy had been stripped clean weeks ago, the convenience store hadn’t lasted more than a few days after the end, and it was getting more difficult to find things they needed. They passed dozens of empty buildings, many with broken windows and desecrated walls. As they walked they came across a bar.

“Might be worth it,” Luz said and Toye agreed. The door was locked so Toye smashed the glass with the butt of his gun and turned the lock from the inside.

“Be alert,” He warned Luz, wary of the infected he was sure were inside. Slowly, he opened the door, broken glass falling onto the floor. There were two infected inside. “I’ll take the one on the left, you get the right,” Toye said, not bothering to check that Luz was following him. Swinging his baseball bat as hard as he could he bashed the infected’s head in. He heard a squelch as Luz stuck his knife deep into the other infected’s skull. Once the room was clear, Toye took a slow look around. The bar had a thin layer of dust covering most of its surfaces, which hopefully meant its supplies were intact. There was a heavy light fixture hanging dangerously from the ceiling, which Toye moved to avoid. In fact, the entire ceiling appeared to be slightly caved in, as if denting from some unseen weight. Toye adjusted his grip on his bat. Luz hopped behind the bar, sifting through the supplies behind the counter.

“Hey,” Luz said, holding up a bottle of whiskey. “Think we’ve got room for it?” Toye smiled despite himself.

“Don’t fill up your entire bag with that shit,” He said. “We’re here for food. But, yes, you can bring a few bottles, I don’t care.” Luz grinned at that and continued his rummaging. Toye stood in front of the bar, back to Luz, keeping watch just in case they’d missed an infected. Luz pulled out a few jars of olives behind the counter, and one full of maraschino cherries, which Toye was excited to get into later. Luz found a few bags of popped corn, a few full of chips, and plenty of pistachios and peanuts.

“Damn,” Luz said, whistling lowly. “Look at this, will ya?” And Toye turned to see Luz holding a rifle. God, Toye loved paranoid barkeeps. He took the rifle from Luz.

“I’ll see if there’s any ammo in the back,” He said, jumping behind the counter and moving to where management had worked. Sure enough, there were several cases of ammunition. It wasn’t much, but every little bit helped.

Once the bag was full of all the food he could find, Luz began rifling through the alcohol in the bar, intent on finding his favorite drinks. As Toye moved to go around the counter he paused. He tilted his head up, focused intently. He thought he heard growling coming from the floor above. He gripped his bat tightly.

“Everything alright?” Luz asked and Toye shushed him, gesturing upwards. Luz quietly slung his backpack over his shoulders, holding his knife at the ready. Toye took a step forward, and the growling seemed to intensify. He looked around, spotting a door that he’d previously ignored. Toye surmised that it must lead to an upper level of the bar. Upon further investigation, he discovered it was locked. The growling on the other side of the door was loud, and Toye didn’t want to know how many infecteds were back there. He took a step backwards, but didn’t look behind him and he tripped over a chair, resulting in a loud clattering sound. The growling got even louder, the infecteds now aware of the human presence.

Toye felt Luz’s hands pulling on his shoulders to get him up, urging him forward. Toye took the lead to the doorway, blood rushing in his ears. Suddenly, the door seemed too far away. The ceiling creaked ominously above him and he couldn’t get to the door fast enough.

“Look out!” He heard Luz scream behind him and suddenly he was shoved from behind. As he stumbled he turned a little bit, just in time to see the ceiling cave in completely and crash down on Luz. The ceiling came down in one clean chunk, leaving little debris elsewhere. An infected came down with it, and wasted no time lunging for Toye, who grappled with his bat and just barely managed to make a swing.

“George!” He screamed, but he got no response. Several other infecteds fell through the ceiling, and Toye reached for the gun at his side. He tried to avoid using his gun whenever he could because the noise just alerted the infected to his location, but he wouldn’t be able to bat his way out of this. Toye was a good shot, his time in the army made sure of that. The walkers were down within seconds, blood splattering over the floor of the bar. The growling noise finally subsiding. He breathed a sigh of relief, but knew that he was anything but safe.

“George?” He said quietly, but still heard nothing in return. He felt a pit open up in his stomach. He managed to move the piece of ceiling slightly, exposing some of Luz’s body. Panting with exertion, he pulled Luz closer, cradling his body, concerned with how malleable his limbs were. He sucked in a breath when he saw the blood trickling slowly from George’s head. Shaking, he leaned his head down to Luz’s chest, and listened closely for a heartbeat. After a long moment, he heard one, and his head was pushed upwards as Luz’s chest expanded to breathe.

“Okay, George,” He said, mostly talking to himself. “We’re gonna do this.” He stood, hefting Luz’s unconscious body into his arms as he went. He knew he needed to hurry- the infected would probably be coming due to the gunshot. It was a struggle, too, because he had an extra body to carry, but leaving George was never an option.

Moving as quickly as he could, Toye ran home, arms and legs aching from the weight, his lungs burning. He’d been lucky, no infecteds had gotten close to him on the way. Still, he was beyond relieved to be home, behind their defenses.

Gently, he set Luz on the couch, and went to grab some of the limited medical supplies they had. He cleaned Luz’s head wound the best he could, bandaging it after. He checked Luz for more injuries but, aside from some bruising, his head seemed to be the worst of it. Toye sighed. He wasn’t sure what else he could do except wait for Luz to wake up, and pray to God that he did. Tentatively, he raised a hand to George’s head, careful to mind his bandages. Toye had long been fascinated with George’s hair. It was fluffy and dark, and it looked soft to the touch. He began to slowly card his fingers through Luz’s hair, admiring the way it felt beneath his fingers. It was more tangled now, the apocalypse not really conducive to a hair regimen, but it was soft nonetheless. He stayed like that for longer than he should have, sucking whatever comfort he could from the small gesture.

Eventually, as the night wore on and Luz showed no immediate signs of waking, Toye decided to scrape together a dinner. The two of them had some jerky leftover, and a few cans of fruit. He sat in front of Luz and stuck his knife in the can, wiggling it open. The noise of metal grating on metal seemed to be annoying enough to reach Luz because he began to groan.

Eyes still closed, Luz sat up jerkily, wincing in pain and moving a hand to his head. Toye felt his shoulders sag, releasing a tension he didn’t know he’d had. He held his hand in the air around Luz’s shoulder, ready to grab on if need be, but not wanting to overwhelm him.

“Hey, hey,” He said softly. “You alright?”

“What happened?” Luz said, rubbing his eyes and pulling at his bandages.

“You hit your head, remember?” Toye asked, fond smile on his face now that Luz was awake.

“No, I-” Luz said, opening his eyes. He cut himself off when he saw Toye. “Whoa, who are you?”

“Uh,” Toye snorted. “Are you joking?” Toye smiled nervously, though Luz did not return the expression.

“No?” Luz asked, brow furrowing heavily. “What’s going on?”

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, let me know what you think! Comments are love and they honestly motivate me so much.  
Thank you for reading!


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